Windows Boards

FIRST things first: unlike some bloggers in the United States, I did not get a free, high-powered notebook computer from Microsoft so I could try out and write about Windows Vista. At my request and before the brouhaha over the freebies, they did lend me a notebook so I could get a preview of their new operating system ahead of its release to consumers at the end of January.

The notebook, a Compaq Presario V3000, used an Intel Core 2 processor running at 1.66 gigahertz (GHz). To make sure Vista had the room it needed to run well, Microsoft boosted on-board memory to 1 gigabyte (GB). The version of the operating system installed is called Windows Vista Ultimate, which has all the features you